News archive from 8 March 2012

The production company behind the Muppets is developing a family teatime chatshow for BBC1.
Plans for the show, which has the working title No Strings Attached, are for a puppet presenter interviewing real life celebrities.
The Jim Henson Company, the...

During his trial for the murder of 15-year-old Kristy Bamu, a boy who called him "uncle", Eric Bikubi showed little emotion. During the most harrowing evidence, when the jury heard how Bikubi had beaten Kristy with a metal pole used for...

A man and woman who tortured and killed a 15-year-old boy because they believed he was a witch have been found guilty of murder.
Eric Bikubi and Magalie Bamu, both 28, killed Magalie's brother Kristy Bamu in their east London flat after violently...

Someone's been reading your email. They know what you've been looking at online. They almost certainly have a photograph of your house. If you've got a smartphone, they even know where you've been and what you'll be doing next week.
It's not a new...

Supporters of Vladimir Putin are treating his win of the presidential election on 4 March as a foregone conclusion – and they're probably right. Yet as the old adage goes: "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it."
Even...

In 2007, the Oxford Union invited Nick Griffin, leader of the far right BNP, and Holocaust denier David Irving to discuss free speech. Now Cambridge has decided that whatever Oxford can do, we can do more controversially. So, on 9 March, we've got...

It's time to get sowing. Photograph: Alamy It can be daunting knowing this is one of the most precious, critical times for grow-your-owners – an uneasy feeling can descend as you spend time on one task but ponder if you'd be best doing something...

Powerful storms that spawned tornadoes ripped through the US midwest on Wednesday, killing at least 12 people, including six in Illinois who were crushed when a house was lifted up and fell on them, authorities said.
The violent weather that hit six...

Wonga says it prides itself on not using aggressive, targeting marketing, but ever since I applied for a Wonga loan, this message keeps returning to hover over my Gmail account inbox: "Payday Cash in 15 mins – Wonga.com/payday-loans - No Phone,...

Wonga.com's corporate style is unremittingly cheerful. Apply for one of their online loans and, provided your application is successful, you'll get a series of happy messages, dotted with upbeat exclamation marks, giving an account of the progress of...

David Luiz has risked adding to the tense atmosphere in the Chelsea dressing room by saying Frank Lampard should stop expecting special treatment.
Lampard has been unhappy with the number of games he has missed this season and has admitted that his...

9.45am: Good morning and welcome to today's daily dose of campaign politics, as the Republican candidates make a big push ahead of Super Tuesday.
Here's a summary of news on and off the trail with Ryan Deveraux.
• With Super Tuesday less than a week...

Ahead of the latest US manufacturing survey for February, there has been a mixed picture for the world's largest economy.
Initial jobless claims fell 2,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 351,000 compared to expectations of a figure of around...

When Magalie Bamu's sister Kelly gave evidence at the Old Bailey about her brother's death, she aimed all of her vitriol at her sister: "She doesn't realise what she did. Kristy asked for forgiveness, again and again and again. Magalie did...

Anyone following the increasingly ridiculous Ghostbusters 3 saga will by now be fully accustomed to all the rumours, speculation, half-truths and gibberish that have accompanied its tortuous 13-year-and-counting gestation period. It was going to be a...